The NHL Kings "went outside the box" to hire their new play-by-play TV broadcaster, tapping Alex Faust as the successor to Bob Miller, according to Helene Elliott of the L.A. TIMES. Faust has done play-by-play of college football, basketball and lacrosse for ESPNU and also has "worked for NESN." In addition, he has done radio play-by-play for the AHL Utica Comets and has "freelanced on NBCSN’s hockey coverage" as well as on Tennis Channel. The 28-year-old Faust "acknowledged he wasn’t a diehard hockey fan growing up but has immersed himself in the sport" since he called hockey games for Northeastern Univ.'s student radio station. His "relatively low national profile didn’t make him an obvious choice" for the role. Faust said, "Believe me, it wasn’t an obvious outcome for me either. The expectation isn’t that I’m going to replace Bob Miller, because that’s just impossible to do." Elliott notes Kings President Luc Robitaille was "heavily involved in the search to fill a coveted job that attracted many candidates." Robitaille said, "We sat with all the folks at Fox, and they had sent us the reels of a bunch of different people, and we had a small meeting a couple weeks ago and we chatted in the room." For Robitaille, Faust’s youth "isn’t a drawback." Robitaille: "I look at it from a standpoint where I’m glad this guy is going to come in and work with us and be with us for a long time." Faust said that he "tries to avoid catchphrases or gimmicks." Faust: "I don’t like to be pretentious." Meanwhile, Elliott noted Jim Fox is "expected to continue as the TV analyst." Kings radio play-by-play announcer Nick Nickson and commentator Daryl Evans also are "expected to return next season" (LATIMES.com, 6/1).
PRECOCIOUS TALENT: In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote Faust was "not even on the Kings' radar three months ago." He said, "It’s not lost on me on how out-of-the-blue this will appear from the outside. I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘name brand’ or one with a lot of national presence." Kings VP/Communications & Broadcasting Mike Altieri said that Faust was a "unanimous choice among the eight-person search team" composed of Kings and FS West personnel, "based on his resume tapes and a studio pairing with Fox two weeks ago." Altieri: "When we first heard his tape, or read his bio, we knew he was young, but there were a lot of mature things we saw in his on-air presence, his air of confidence and the cadence in his voice. All that resonated for us" (DAILYNEWS.com, 6/1).
